Leaving the Nest
by Vanilla Owns Chocolate
Summary: Everybody has to move on eventually. Unfortunately for Meiko, it's more difficult than she could have imagined. (contains Negitoro and implied Kaito/Gakupo)


Kaito was the first among them to move out.

In turn, he was met with skepticism. They had all been living together for several years, and while none of them were related (sans Rin and Len), they were exceptionally close friends.

While it was hard on everyone, they eventually grew to accept the idea. Miku tried to spend as much time with him as possible before it happened. Luka, normally the most antisocial of them all, gave him a pat on the shoulder and wished him good luck. Len tried to hide the fact that he was upset, but he too bid Kaito a formal farewell, assuming a casual demeanor. While Rin was much less adamant about holding back her tears, she was reassured when Kaito told them all that he would visit them as often as he could.

Then there was Meiko.

Meiko was the eldest of them all, at 45 years old. The age gap between her and the others was large, and as a result, she behaved very much like a mother towards them. When Kaito said that he would be living with Gakupo in a nice little house not too far away from the countryside where they lived, she was filled with all sorts of conflicting emotions. This, unfortunately, lead to a heated argument.

Kaito told her that he would try to visit as much as possible and that it wouldn't take long for either of them to come and see the other. Besides, he claimed quite nervously (he had never liked to fight), he and Gakupo were both 20; Fully grown adults with jobs. They could handle themselves.

Despite the soundness of his logic, Meiko continued to cry as she mindlessly protested. She had taken Kaito in long before any of the others. While she could never pick favorites, she had a soft spot for him in particular.

The fight would eventually result in both of them storming off to their rooms in tears. When the day of the move came, everybody helped him finish the last of his packing and said goodbye. At first, Meiko remained in her room, but as the rest of Kaito's belongings gradually began to find themselves in cardboard boxes, she silently stepped out and started to pitch in. She didn't say a word as she did, and everybody seemed to respect her personal space.

Finally, when everything was finished, she walked up to Kaito and gave him a big, long hug. Eventually, everyone else joined in, and with a few final "I'll miss you's" and "come back soon's", Kaito left to join his new roommate in their home.

The house felt slightly emptier without him, but he kept his promise and would come back two or three times a week, sometimes with Gakupo in tow. While the purple-haired man did make things a bit awkward at first (nobody had particularly warmed up to him), he the tension slowly began to clear between them, and everything seemed to become normal. Even Meiko, who was the most hesitant to the sudden change, started to feel better. She could deal with this. Kaito may have left, but he would still be there.

It was a whole two years later when Luka and Miku left.

She had been in college, pursuing a practical degree in the field of medicine. Meiko had always been proud of her, showering her in support. While it had been difficult to pay for tuition as well as basic necessities for the now slightly smaller house of people, Kaito and even Gakupo had agreed to help as well. Sure enough, it all paid off, and Luka graduated with much success and fanfare. The celebration lasted well into the night, and continued the next day.

Eventually, though, when the party settled down, Luka decided to find herself a new job. She ended up landing one in a local hospital, and while she had an impressive portfolio, it would be a while until she eventually became a successful doctor. Nevertheless, this didn't deter her, and she seemed happy enough to quit her boring old position as a cashier at a nearby grocery store.

As Luka's career began to advance over the passing year, Miku eventually graduated from high school. Once again, more celebrations were held, and everything seemed to be going well for the group of friends.

Then, about a week later, Luka made a shocking declaration. She and Miku had been dating for many years, having been childhood friends long before they came to live together. One night, after a romantic dinner just between the two of them, Luka got down on one knee and proposed to her. Miku immediately accepted, and less than a day later, they were already making wedding arrangements. Because Japan didn't allow same-sex marriage, they were considering going out of the country to get married. Luckily, Luka's job at the hospital paid extremely well, and they were able to afford two plane tickets to London.

Everyone else, while extremely proud and excited for them, were disappointed that they couldn't come along, but they promised that they would record the wedding for them. Sure enough, they kept their word, and after about three days, they returned a happily married couple.

It seemed as if everything was going swimmingly. Everybody appeared to be doing well for themselves. For many weeks, there was nothing but good cheer throughout the house.

Then, Luka and Miku approached Meiko about moving out.

They found a cute apartment in the city, much closer to the hospital than their isolated house. Luka was getting tired of waking up early and taking an hour-long trip to her workplace everyday. Together, the two decided that the best solution was a new living space.

Meiko's heart sank. It was like Kaito all over again.

She tried to be supportive this time, but the pain of losing not one, but two people whom she had taken care of since they were young was evident in her eyes. Not being able to help herself, she cried in their arms. However, even after they were finished comforting her, she never objected to their leaving. She had learned her lesson.

It was around this time that the visits from Kaito and Gakupo began getting less frequent. They still showed up to help with the packing for Miku and Luka, but their regular trips to go see Meiko began to dwindle from multiple times a week, to once a week, to once every two or three weeks.

At first, Meiko didn't seem to mind. For the time being, she still had the twins, and helping out with the move kept her busy. But after everything was said and done and the happy couple had left, she started to notice how quiet everything seemed.

...Well, not quite. Rin, always the more lively and energetic one compared to her brother, tried to cheer Meiko up. She had become more invested in the world of theater and acting, and she was exceptionally good at performing. Sometimes, when she noticed how depressed the brunette looked as she reminisced, she would do improv skits for her or recite lines from a script. While her attempts didn't always work, Meiko had to admit that they had gotten her to smile on more than one occasion.

Len, too, made an effort to try to make her feel better. He made drawings for her; Beautiful, detailed drawings of people, places, or whatever else just so happened to be on his mind. Meiko nearly burst into tears when he showed her a lovely picture of their own house. If she didn't know any better, she would've thought it was a photograph rather than an illustration.

Despite this, things still seemed emptier. Miku and Luka couldn't visit as often due to the fact that their apartment was farther away than Kaito and Gakupo's house near the fields. They still tried to visit, but due to their increasingly busy schedule (Luka's hours at the hospital were too rough on her sometimes, and Miku was pursuing her dream of being a singer by posting covers online), they started showing up less and less.

For the next two years, she tried to hold on to Rin and Len as much as possible. She savored every moment that she got with them, every performance, every drawing, every conversation.

Eventually, though, college came, and for the first time ever, the once-inseparable Kagamine twins drifted apart.

Len had gotten a scholarship to a prestigious art school out of town. Rin, on the other hand, preferred to stay close to home, and chose to go to the same school that Luka had went to all those years ago. For a brief couple of days, all six of them were reunited as they gathered together to wish the twins luck in their future endeavors. They truly were joined at the hip until they parted, as Rin and Len refused to go anywhere without the other throughout the festivities.

As time went on, however, the celebrations died down, and things went back to normal for a while. There were only a few months left until college started and Len had to leave for Tokyo, and Meiko was determined to spend as much time with him in particular as possible. Like Luka, Rin would continue to live at the house while she went to college. Meiko wondered if she was only doing it out of pity.

In the blink of an eye, the months passed. This time, Luka was unable to help with the packing, as she was too busy with work. Gakupo was sick with a nasty stomach bug that had been going around recently, and Kaito had refused to leave his side out of worry. Only Miku, who had put aside her singing just for the day, had shown up to offer assistance to the twins.

Unlike all the previous times, when packing together was considered less of a chore and more of a way to bond with one another, everything was solemn. Miku tried to bring everyone's spirits up, but even Rin was too distraught at having to be away from her brother for so long that she wasn't feeling up to it.

In the end, they all gathered around for one last group hug, though it didn't feel like much of a group anymore. Everybody seemed a little teary-eyed once it concluded.

Then, it was time to go.

Once everyone was gone, Meiko was all alone. She knew that Rin would be back soon, but that did nothing to stop the aching loneliness that she felt.

When Rin came home, she made sure to tell Meiko all about her day and how it went. While the older woman was happy for her, she couldn't shake off her emptiness. Rin was all she had left.

Years passed. In those years, the six of them got together less and less. Everyone appeared to be too busy with their own lives. Len would go on to graduate. Nobody he knew was able to go.

At the same time, Rin would also finish college. This time, people she knew were there, but they were very few. Meiko showed up, of course, but aside from her, only Miku was able to make it.

The following days were more gloomy than celebratory. Nobody had gotten any word from Len. The only person he had been talking to outside of his school was Rin, but he was too focused on his education to speak to her very often. It was only a week after the graduation that they got a letter from him explaining that he had been taking art commissions for people for money, and he had managed to purchase a small apartment. It wasn't much, but he seemed happy about it, and he explained that he was going to find a way to get his art published for the whole world to see.

Despite being happy for him and confident in his abilities, Meiko still felt a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach as she read the letter over and over again. While the others had at least informed her of their plans to move out beforehand, Len hadn't even told her until after it was already done. She wasn't important enough anymore.

Rin seemed to sense her distress, and Meiko thought that was why she continued to stay with her. After all, the blond girl (woman, at this point) probably missed Len even more than she did. The two had rarely been seen without each other since childhood, and now they were living miles apart. In a sense, Rin depended on Meiko just as much as the brunette depended on her.

For a while, it was just the two of them. They still got the occasional letters from Len, but they usually talked about being very busy. He was now working for some sort of magazine, the name of which Meiko couldn't remember, and he had deadlines to meet.

One day, Rin came home from the store where she worked, excitedly waving around a strange-looking book; a magazine. She ran up to Meiko, practically bursting with joy and pride. On the cover was a wonderful drawing of several people, with the caption "cover art by Kagamine Len." For the first time in months, Meiko smiled a genuine smile.

She would flip through the magazine almost daily, skipping through other artists' pieces just so she could look at Len's contributions again. She was so proud of him.

Miku's career seemed to be taking off as well. She was now somewhat of an Internet celebrity, and she had branched out from doing simple covers to writing and singing her own songs. Rin would play her music constantly, and Meiko expected that it wasn't long until she would see her on the cover of a magazine, too.

However, it seemed that seeing the success of her friends lit a fire in Rin's heart. She was inspired by them and their persistence in pursuing their dreams. At first, Meiko didn't notice how Rin would often leave for short periods of time after dinner. But as the days wore on, the time that she spent away got longer, and Meiko began to get more and more curious. When she asked about it, Rin would awkwardly try to come up with some sort of excuse, but while she might have been an amazing actress, she was not a very good liar.

It wasn't until one day when Rin came home, looking almost as ecstatic as she did the day she brought home Len's magazine, that she told her the truth. She had been taking auditions for parts at nearby theaters, and she had recently landed one as a side character in a play. She wanted it to be a surprise when Meiko found out.

Of course, she was excited for her. In fact, as the months continued onwards, Meiko made sure to attend all of Rin's plays, regardless of whether or not she played a background part or a lead role. She would come up to her afterwards and cheer wrap her in a warm hug, congratulating her for a wonderful performance.

But all good things come to an end, as she had been painfully reminded throughout her life. A few days after Rin's latest play, she approached her elder with a look that was halfway between happy and sad. Meiko's stomach dropped. She knew that look. There was good news, but there was bad news as well, and she had an ominous feeling that she knew what the bad news was.

Rin started with the good news. After her last performance, she had caught the interest of a woman in the audience who claimed to be an up-and-coming director. She was working on an indie film, and she wanted Rin to star in it. She had shown her the script that she had written out to prove that she was telling the truth, and it was enough to get Rin to agree. Perhaps it was because she had always been better at reading people than her brother, but Rin had the ability to somehow be able to tell whether or not a person was lying. She assured Meiko, with absolute sincerity, that the woman she had talked to meant business.

That was when the bad news kicked in. Rin put a hand on Meiko's shoulder and told her tearfully that she couldn't just stick to one theater if she wanted her career to expand. In order to find more opportunities, she had to branch out. If this whole movie deal was a success, it could lead to her finding more work, which she would most likely have to go out of town for.

In other words, she was leaving her, too.

Meiko went cold. She knew this would happen. She wanted to believe that this day would never come, but her conscience told her that it would have had to happen eventually.

Her only friends were deserting her. She was going to be a lonely old lady, living out in the countryside with nobody to keep her company. Everyone would forget about her. She would die alone, and nobody would come to her funeral.

She broke down.

Rin cried with her, but tried to reassure her that everything was going to be alright. She would try to come visit her if she wasn't too busy. But Meiko had had enough of hearing that for the past eight years. That was what Kaito had promised her, and Luka, and Miku, and they had already forgotten her. At least Len knew better than to make promises that he couldn't keep.

She pretended to be reassured by Rin's words, but only after a good hour or so of crying. Deep down, though, she knew the truth. After a while, Rin would stop caring about her, just like everybody else had.

Rin wasn't fooled by Meiko's attempt to pass everything off as normal, but she had faith in her. She intended to keep her promise as much as possible. She just wished that the older woman would believe her. After all, she never lied.

When moving day came, it was just Rin and Meiko packing. They shared laughs together as they remembered the past. They held each other for emotional support when things got too depressing. Finally, with a long embrace, Rin Kagamine left the house once and for all.

Meiko was alone.

At first, she didn't know what to do with herself. She just stared at the door that Rin had exited moments earlier. When her movements returned, she instinctively went towards the kitchen, grabbed some sake, and began drinking straight out of the bottle with a blank expression.

She felt lost for the next week. It was hard for her to go on without her friends. To her, they had always seemed like the family she never had. Now, they had left her, and she spent her days regularly visiting the bar and returning home to an empty house in a drunken stupor.

Rin tried to keep her promise. She really, really did. Her visits weren't regular, but she jumped at any free time she found to come home to the woman whom she had always considered to be her mother.

Unfortunately, her presence did little to ease Meiko's pain. She feared that Rin would leave her just like everyone else. She began to drink more often than usual, to the point where she wasn't even sober whenever Rin did come over.

The blond woman tried to help her. She urged her to stop, telling her that she would never have to worry about abandonment. They were family, and family were supposed to stick together.

This didn't help in the slightest.

Eventually, Rin couldn't take it. She went to Meiko's fridge, grabbed all the alcohol she could find, and poured them and their contents into the trash. Meiko screamed at her, telling her to stop, while Rin simply told her that she had a problem and needed some serious help. Tears streamed down the brunette's face. She refused to listen. She didn't need to be lectured by a woman who was nearly thirty years her junior.

The argument that they had brought on memories of the first fight with Kaito, back when he had decided to leave her, only this time, Rin was far less of a pushover. Whereas Kaito had insisted on dropping the fight so that they could keep the peace between them, Rin pushed her side relentlessly and was not giving up.

As the hours passed, they had grown more and more weary. The fight was taking its toll on the both of them. The angry shouts resounded throughout the room so loudly that Meiko wondered if Len could hear them all the way over in Tokyo. The thought of Len reminded her of all of her other friends, and the memory was so intense that she finally snapped, demanding the Rin just shut up and leave her alone.

Whether it was out of anger, sadness, or perhaps legitimate hatred (Meiko wouldn't have been surprised if it was the latter, or even a combination of all three), Rin angrily obliged. She stormed out the door, slamming it behind her with one final cry: "I don't even know who you are anymore, anyway!"

Meiko realized just then how much she had grown to hate silence.

She stopped fuming long enough to look around the now-empty house...all empty except for her. She was truly alone.

The impact of what had just occurred really hit her then. If she hadn't had been so stupid, Rin wouldn't have left her. If only she had been more sober, she might not have lost the only friend she had left. Now, thanks to her, she really was nothing more than a lonely old lady. All of her friends were successful and happy, and she had nothing to live for anymore.

She screamed.


End file.
